Beatrice Board of Public Works recommends sewer system studies

BEATRICE – The Beatrice Board of Public Works is recommending city council approval of a series of studies aimed at improving the city’s wastewater treatment system.  The board acted on the studies Friday, which would involve evaluating the grit handling system at the wastewater plant, along with evaluating two major sewer lift stations and developing a wastewater system model.

City Engineer and Wastewater Superintendent, James Burroughs says the current system to remove grit is inadequate. "It's your aggregate...it's your sand...it's your heavy inorganic particles that's in the wastewater stream that we need to take out. One, they're inorganic so you can't treat them....two, they're abrasive and have a tendency to destroy pumps and equipment downstream, and three, they just take up space."

This past year, a major biosolids improvement to the plant involved replacing a belt press with modern centrifuges. Burroughs says improving the grit system is a next step. "We want a system that not only handles the amount of grit that we receive, but also the amount of flow that we see during flooding events."

Burroughs says doing some of the projects now avoids cost increases in the future, and money is budgeted for the studies.

The two lift stations that would be evaluated are located south of Court Street along the Big Blue River, and in the northwest Glenover section of the city. Alarm systems used at the stations are outdated.  "We are trying to evaluate lift stations two at a time....see what we can do to upgrade the control systems to today's codes and at the same time, look at these lift stations for structural components and make sure they are functioning for well down the road. Lift station one is our main lift station...it's what kicks everything down to the south side of the river and gets it to the plant. Lift station five takes everything from the industrial park and pumps it down to where that eventually goes into lift station one."

The goal would be to monitor how lift stations are working, from the wastewater plant. The study would also examine the type of controls needed and capacity of the stations.

A third study involves developing a wastewater system model. BPW Manager Tobias Tempelmeyer says there is such a model for the city’s water system, but not wastewater.   "So, if I call James and say if I bring a new building or prospect and they go into the industrial park, can we handle it? The plant can....but I don't know if between the plant and the business if the lift station or pipes are sized correctly. This is what that would tell you, ultimately."  The study would show where system capacity isn’t adequate and where the system could be expanded.

All of the studies proposed would be done by Olsson and Associates, Inc.